Yasay: US accepts PH position for less focus on military operations, more on cooperation vs terrorism, drugs

From the Manila Bulletin (Nov 19): Yasay: US accepts PH position for less focus on military operations, more on cooperation vs terrorism, drugs

U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry, right, shakes hands with Philippine Foreign Minister Perfecto Yasay, during their bilateral meeting at the APEC Ministers Meetings, in Lima, Peru, Thursday, Nov. 17, 2016. The Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation or APEC’s 21 member-nations comprise more than a third of the world’s population and half of global trade. It was established three decades ago to accelerate economic growth by removing trade barriers and helping integrate global supply chains. Pictured left is Under Secretary for International Relations Manuel Teehankee. (Mark Ralston/AFP Pool Photo via AP)

 

The United States has given way to the Philippine position that the focus of the joint exercises under the Enhanced Development Cooperation Agreement (EDCA) be redirected towards mutual cooperation and capacity building to fighting terrorism, illegal drugs, and corruption, and disaster risk management.

Foreign Affairs Secretary Perfecto Yasay Jr., in a briefing with Philippine media, said US Secretary of State John Kerry agreed that the two countries should move forward into non-traditional joint cooperation areas and less on joint military exercises.

“I’m very happy America has accepted the position we’re taking and respects it. We will continue to engage ourselves with each other on these mutually beneficial joint exercises in line with their national interest and in line with our national interests as well,” Yasay said.

EDCA is a supplemental agreement to the Visiting Forces Agreement. The agreement was signed by Philippine Defense Secretary Voltaire Gazmin and US Ambassador to the Philippines Philip Goldberg in Manila on April 28, 2014. At the core of EDCA is the conduct of joint military exercises.

Yasay said he explained to US Secretary of State Kerry the need for the Philippines and the United States to continue in their joint cooperation, especially illegal drug interdiction.

He expressed hope that the US will continue to assist the Philippines in capacity building for law enforcement agencies and police forces against terrorism.

“As outgoing secretary of state of the United States, he wanted to make sure that the close relationship between the Philippines and the United States would be moving forward, will be further strengthened,” Yasay said.

US Admiral Harry Harris is due to arrive by the end of this month to discuss the possible areas of the cooperation.

Yasay said the Mutual Defense Board and the Security Enhancement Board will be making recommendations which, he said, he and the US ambassador hope to approve.

Asked what could have persuaded President Duterte to continue EDCA, Yasay said the President never said anything about totally discontinuing EDCA.   “In fact during his inaugural speech he said he would continue to respect our Mutual Defense Treaty and other supporting documents, including EDCA,” he said.

President Duterte, he said, has assured the US that the Philippine government will continue to respect the treaty and support agreements.

The President, however, has said that the joint exercises should not be “demonstrative of preparing ourselves for any eventual attack from aggressors particularly China.”  This has always been the bias or mindset insofar in the Philippine military alliance with US, he said.

Yasay said the Mutuial Defense Treaty was executed in 1951 when the world was engaged in the Korean War and a dominant theory at that time was that if Korea fell to the Communists, other countries in Asia such as Vietnam, Cambodia, Laos, Thailand, and the Philippines would be the next.
“It was on this basis that this perception at that time, rightly or wrongly, that we had a military alliance, that the mutual defense treaty with the United States was deemed necessary,” he said.

“But as events turned out,” he said, “the domino theory was proven to be false.  Korea was divided into north and south, North Vietnam won, but Vietnam has consolidated as a nation closely relating with the United States.”

“Hence,” he said, “engaging with the United States in so far as military preparedness for invasion by countries like China no longer holds true…  The government is in the midst of this conflict or dispute insofar as the South China Sea is concerned, which the Philippines is committed to resolve in a peaceful manner through bilateral talks.”

“So, we feel that we should not pursue any action that can be considered by both sides as provocative.  Joint military patrols in the South China Sea with anyone, for that matter, will be provocative acts. Engaging ourselves in land-based military exercises, if geared to preparing ourselves for invasion by other countries, in particular, China, will be provocative.”

“So we have told the United States that maybe we should tone down and not focus on these joint military exercises … We would like to focus on exercises that are non-traditional, insofar as building our capacity against non-traditional security threats such as terrorism, illegal drugs, even disaster response.”

Yasay said the President directed the members of his Cabinet, particularly the secretary of national defense, and the national police to study the situation and come up with an evaluation. “The recommendation was to continue with this arrangement as the President intended, to begin with, but the emphasis should now be on more realistic and pragmatic response to emerging needs.”

http://news.mb.com.ph/2016/11/19/yasay-us-accepts-ph-position-for-less-focus-on-military-operations-more-on-cooperation-vs-terrorism-drugs/